1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure generally relates to an electrophotographic toner and a method of preparing the electrophotographic toner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Developers used to visualize electrostatic images and electrostatic latent images in electrographic and electrostatic processes can be classified into two-component developers and one-component developers. Two-component developers include toner and carrier particles whereas one-component developers consist exclusively of toner. One-component developers can be further classified into magnetic and nonmagnetic developers. In order to increase the fluidity of toner, nonmagnetic one-component developers often contain a fluidizing agent, such as colloidal silica. Typically, coloring particles obtained by dispersing a pigment such as carbon black or other additives in a binding resin are used in these toners.
Methods of preparing toner may be classified into pulverization or polymerization processes. For pulverization processes, polymer, wax, a colorant, and a charge control agent are pre-mixed in a mixer, and the pre-mixed mixture is mixed and melted using an extruder. The resulting particles are sorted until particles of a desired size are obtained, and an external addition process is performed on the particles to prepare the toner. Polymerization processes may be further classified into suspension polymerization and emulsion-aggregation polymerization processes. For suspension polymerization, a monomer, a pigment, and wax are mechanically dispersed in water with a stirrer, and polymerized at an appropriate temperature. In addition, to stably disperse an internal agent such as a pigment, wax, and the like in toner particles, a surfactant such as a stabilizer may be introduced into the toner. The remaining monomer is then removed, and an external addition process is performed in the same manner as in the pulverization process. For emulsion-aggregation, a polymer latex, wax, a pigment, and a charge control agent are aggregated together, and the size of the aggregated particles is adjusted by adjusting the temperature. The resulting particles are stabilized and coalesced by heating, and an external addition process is performed in the same manner as in the pulverization process.
Recently, there has been an increase in demand for strengthening regulations relating to global warming and other environmental regulations, and an increase in pressure for all nations to abide by such regulations and policies. Consumers also tend to buy products depending on whether the products have the “environmentally friendly product” mark. Accordingly, since printers have various environmental regulation requirements, such as the amount of emission of carbon dioxide (CO2), smell, dusts, recyclable plastics, and the like, there has been a demand for more environmentally friendly toner.